Considerable gap between transit and auto costs

Cost of travel for transit-proximate and car-dependant households
Source of data: Taras Grescoe, citing Brookings Institute study

From Taras Grescoe, author of Straphanger (Times Books, 2012), comes this amazing statistic about the cost of travel in households that are near public transit versus those that rely upon cars.

Mixed review for Sonoma County Fair

We went to the Sonoma County Fair this Sunday and I offer a mixed review. First, here are the positive aspects of my experience.

Voices must speak to be heard

In the spring 2012 issue of Yes! Magazine, Joseph Torres urges support for independent media as part of the issue’s “9 Strategies to End Corporate Rule.”

Game Boys on its way to being read

In the break room at work a few months ago, I found Game Boys by Michael Kane (Viking, 2008), just in time to read and critique it for a class discussion board about books for young adults.

Digital literacy promotion for libraries

Cartoon image created with Bitstrips and added July 13, 2016

Highlighting libraries’ important role in promoting digital literacy, the Public Library Association via Twitter encouraged libraries this week to register with a national database.

Favoriting ≠ endorsement

A Poynter report on the Associated Press updated social media policy highlights an exchange on Twitter that addresses its position on retweeting.

What do we still do in public libraries?

Still plenty for me (and Michelle McLean) to do at our public libraries

 What is information and what is it we still do in public libraries? Quite a lot according to Michelle McLean, blogging at Connecting Librarian:

“Some of the ways my library provides information as well as access to it include:

• Non-fiction lending collections including DVDs and audio-books
• Magazines
• Daily newspapers
• Internet connectivity, both via PC and WiFi to access the wider world of information (amongst other things)
• Electronic resources
• Short seminars on a wide range of topics
• Library staff, who help people find the information they need, either in our collections or on the Internet
• Library staff who share local knowledge to help people find what they need in the local community
• Local history collection
• Outreach visits, to not only promote the library, but to help those being visited fulfill their needs – with that resource the library has
• School visits to again showcase what they library can do, but to also help with information literacy skills
• Teaching our users information literacy skills
• Teaching our users computer skills
• And much, much more ...”

My thanks to ALA Techsource for sharing this essay on Twitter.

Temple Grandin: ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder, through my eyes’

Temple Grandin: Autism Spectrum Disorder, through my eyes

I couldn’t resist re-posting this image, shared by Dr. Temple Grandin on Facebook:

“What would happen if the Autism gene was eliminated from the gene pool? You would have a bunch of people standing around in a cave, chatting and socializing and not getting anything done.”

Thank you, Temple, for your inspiring and tireless advocacy for our dignity and value.

Public relations officers: Take time to learn your job

The dear, departed, Miss Elizabeth pillowed against my Toastmasters portfolio

 With the beginning of July, in Toastmasters clubs (and in other clubs and groups), new vice presidents of public relations have started serving their terms.

Blanket condemnation of people with autism

Photo from Twitter user @AspieSide during March 30 #vigilforgeorge
List of people with disabilities who were killed by parents or caregivers

 In a Monday morning broadcast, Joe Scarborough of MSNBC grossly stereotyped people (like me) who are on the autism spectrum.

Completed presentation: Yarn Bombing @ Your Library

Yarn bombing @ your library from Cynthia Parkhill

And with that, the completed PowerPoint presentation, “Yarn Bombing @ Your Library,” is uploaded to SlideShare. The chapter closes upon my summer course through Cuesta College in Microsoft Office Professional.

Press releases are not published ‘as is’

Guest-blogging for Paradux Media Group, internet marketer Jeff Gross states that press releases are published “as is.”

Value of ‘buy local’ journalism in action

Lake County Record-Bee Staff reporter Kevin N. Hume reads during a
children’s summer program at Kelseyville Elementary School.
Photo by Denise Crawford

 Record-Bee staff reporter Kevin N. Hume made a guest appearance yesterday at a children’s summer reading program. I think it illustrates the value of  “reading local” that journalist Mandy Jenkins recently blogged about.

Digital media workshop with Steve Buttry

My education this year has been on two fronts: the formal course of study in Library and Information Science through Cuesta College online and independent training in social media tools for journalism.

Walmart building is now library

McAllen Public Library: Photographic tour of new main library

While shelving at the Middletown library today, library director Gehlen Palmer showed me an amazing slide show produced by the McAllen Public Library in Texas. The slide show presents a photographic tour of its new main library.

Middletown library project halfway toward completion

That the Middletown Senior Center/Library project is near its halfway point toward completion is welcome news to this library volunteer.

Kate Wolf Festival has ‘green’ emphasis

Jonathan spent this past weekend at the Kate Wolf Festival, where he worked in our friend Evan’s clothing booth. The festival takes place each year at Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, home to the Hog Farm and Camp Winnarainbow circus camp.

Journalism Accelerator: social media post worth bookmarking

The “four-step guerilla guide to social listening” on the Journalism Accelerator blog is an entry worth bookmarking. The author, Jacob Caggiano, presents an overview of social “listening” tools.

From the moment I set up Google Alerts for online mentions of my name, I was engaged in social “listening.” And as detailed in the overview, there are many more tools at a social media manager’s disposal.

Caggiano divides social media monitoring into a four-step process, with tools reviewed at each step of the way: Discover, Analyze, Manage and Integrate.

Among those mentioned, I use Tweetdeck when managing Twitter activity for two Northern California newspapers. It helps me track staff reporters’ tweets and designated hashtag activity, alerts me to mentions and allows me to post updates as one or both of the newspapers.

I look forward to experimenting with some of the other tools that are detailed in the blog. I think the JA overview will be of value to people in a variety of industries who wish to monitor social media more effectively.

Zombie Journalism: Newsrooms should promote ‘reading local’

Blogging at Zombie Journalism, Mandy Jenkins suggests that as outsourced news grows, local newsrooms should promote buying (and reading) local.